Author: T.J. Klune
Rating: 5/5 stars
Genre(s): Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Publication date: September 21, 2021
Wallace is dead. This realization comes as he sits in a pew at his own sparsely attended funeral. Wallace was a bad person; he put profits over people, ruined all his relationships and died alone. Now Mei, a reaper who transports dead spirits, has come to take him to Charon’s Crossing, a tea shop where spirits reside until they are ready to cross into the afterlife. Hugo owns Charon’s Crossing and is the Ferryman assigned to help Wallace cross over.
“Under the Whispering Door” is written in Klune’s characteristic style. There are lush descriptions, loveable and complicated characters and a plot that will tug at your heartstrings. This book will make you laugh out loud and make you cry.
Most of the story takes place at Charon’s Crossing which adds to the cozy vibes of this story, reminiscent of the orphanage from “The House in the Cerulean Sea.” The characters are brought together by circumstance and choose to love each other, forming a tight-knit family that will defend each other no matter what.
Klune explores the question: “What happens after we die?” and shows how a person still has time to change even if they’ve passed on.
Wallace was tactless jerk. There is no doubt about it. The novel opens with him firing an employee after hearing that her husband lost his job and the entire family relies on her income alone. However, as Wallace opens up to Hugo, Mei and a few other characters, readers get to see him become more empathetic and compassionate. By the end of the novel, it is impossible not to love him.
I do think the ending felt a bit unrealistic. Everything was fixed and tied up too perfectly for my liking. Klune has a proclivity for prioritizing rushed happy endings over allowing room for bittersweetness. This gives readers a sense of safety because they know nothing devastating will happen to the characters they love, but I do wish there was a bit more tension in this particular story.
